Rodrigue on camp: who’s rising, who’s falling & who merits a closer look?

As Rams wrap up training camp, who is rising, who is falling and who merits a closer look?

https://theathletic.com/2759440/2021/08/09/as-rams-wrap-up-training-camp-who-is-rising-who-is-falling-and-who-merits-a-closer-look/?source=emp_shared_article

IRVINE, Calif. — We’re two weeks, three padded practices, over a dozen walk-through and installation sessions, one no-look pass, a handful of side-arm throws, two rookie surgeries, a backup quarterback appendectomy and a chippy scrimmage into Rams training camp.

At this point, there’s been enough time for players to make — or solidify — their impression on coaches and personnel staff. There’s still plenty of time left, of course, with the first week of the Rams’ three-game preseason opening on Saturday against the Chargers at SoFi Stadium. But the first wave of cuts comes on Aug. 24 (teams must get down to 80 players), and the final 53-man cutdown is on Aug. 31 — so while it currently feels like time is on the players’ sides, after Saturday things will get real, really quickly.

As the Rams wrap up training camp in Irvine, it’s time to evaluate who might be making their move — either for the positive or the negative. This weekly camp and preseason series won’t really focus on the star players — but will hope to highlight the players who could either break out as the year goes on, break into larger roles or who could fall behind or even miss the roster entirely. If you don’t see your favorite player listed here, check out last week’s installment.

Rising

Darrell Henderson, Xavier Jones, Jake Funk

These three were in the “rising” section of last week’s column, but they merit another week here because it’s clear the Rams are figuring out how best to rotate them through their respective workloads.

Henderson especially has looked great on some of his runs (remember, no tackling to the ground), and broke off a couple of long ones based on finding his gaps when scrimmaging against the Cowboys on Saturday. Jones is right there with him, and Funk not only is stouter in his base than is to be expected for a rookie seventh-round pick (indicating he could adjust well to the physical work of pass-pro and even more short-yardage carries), but also the Rams are trying him as a gunner on special teams, which is interesting.

Remember, the goal is going to be to maximize Henderson’s availability, and his ability, via a likely fluid, likely situational snap count in which he’ll be complemented by Jones and Funk.

Justin Hollins and Obo Okoronkwo combination

The Hollins/Okoronkwo pass-rush tandem has been gaining momentum, and is actually really intriguing. The Rams don’t have an every-down pass-rusher to play opposite every-down pass-rusher Leonard Floyd, so they basically are hoping to create a Power Rangers Megazord rush-plan by combining the unique skill sets they like from Hollins, Okoronkwo and of course, Terrell Lewis (I’ll get to him in a moment). Hollins has great length and is a high-effort player, and Okoronkwo is smaller, but extremely fast and can be effective in a speed-rush changeup. Both players have had a standout camp.

Inside linebackers

Led this year, it appears, by Kenny Young, the 2021 version of the Rams’ inside linebackers appear night-and-day different from 2020 — whether it’s during the daily grind of camp, or against another opponent such as the Cowboys. One notable difference is their confidence — not just personally, but clearly in the way that they move. Young seems to be getting the most snaps as a single ‘backer, when the scheme dictates, but is also on the field in starting tandem with Micah Kiser, and Troy Reeder rotates in a good bit. All three of those players found themselves in the Dallas backfield at least once, whether on a run stop or, in Young’s case, after a pass breakup and then a lateral stop.

Another tandem that’s playing very well together? Rookie Ernest Jones and Travin Howard, the latter of whom is moving great after spending last season recovering from a knee injury. It will be interesting to see whether the Rams have to “hide” their inside linebackers or “scheme around” them using extra safeties and field cushion as much as they did last season, or if they’ll dial up a few wrinkles instead — even if it’s a little more designed pressure from Young.

Taylor Rapp

Last week, Rapp was listed as “still watching” and this week he made an impression in a big way after setting the energy tone in practice with a “pro thud” run stop in the box on Wednesday. He kept that momentum — and played well in that setting — through the rest of the week. That’s where Rapp really seems to excel (and apparently also in being the first to get to a skirmish between Aaron Donald and a Dallas lineman, and trying to pull the 300-pound lineman away from Donald). Defensive coordinator Raheem Morris calls those types of technically sound, energy-raising plays “Make-A-Difference” (MAD) plays, and he mentioned last week that he prefers that players focus more on those types of things than getting too caught up in their personal stats day to day.

Kareem Orr

Orr had a great week of camp, no question, and it culminated with a play in the red zone against the Cowboys’ second-team offense in which Orr broke up a would-be touchdown. With rookie Robert Rochell still recovering post-wrist-surgery, Orr will probably get a lot of playing time in the preseason and the Rams will get a long look at him against non-teammates, too — especially as they evaluate their depth situation at corner.

J.R. Reed

Reed has made a couple of nice plays in the last week, including some great red-zone coverage that helped prevent a touchdown during practice. The Rams are likely locked in at their top four safety spots with Fuller, Burgess, Rapp and Nick Scott the leaders there, but may keep six — and Reed is certainly making a case for one of those spots.

Matt Orzech

Long snapper alert! Orzech seems to be taking snap duties when veteran punter Johnny Hekker is either punting or holding for kicks.

Raymond Calais

Calais is listed separately from the other backs because he may not get many offensive touches, but could stick on the roster as a return specialist and if the Rams’ aren’t totally comfortable with keeping only three running backs to open the season. He was taking the first-team punt return reps in Saturday’s scrimmage and has experience in a variety of special-teams roles. Rookie receivers Tutu Atwell and Landen Akers also repped into the mix.

Falling/still watching

Terrell Lewis

No, Lewis isn’t “falling” — but he bears watching because it seems pretty clear that he’ll be on a pitch count through the year. That doesn’t mean he won’t start games as the situation dictates; it’s just that the Rams may hope to get 17 games from Lewis, whose knee they are still quite clearly managing, which means a rotation with Hollins and Oboronkwo. What will that look like? Well, um, that’s why we’re watching. But Lewis was really efficient in limited snaps last season, so it’s possible to find a sweet spot for him in which he’ll maximize both his ability and his health.

Roster spots for offensive linemen

The Rams may be able to get away with keeping fewer offensive linemen than usual, because some of their reserve players are able to play multiple positions (including Brian Allen, Tremayne Anchrum and Chandler Brewer). The fact that they swapped Jamil Demby for Jeremiah Kolone kind of hints at their core of nine players: Andrew Whitworth, David Edwards, Austin Corbett, Bobby Evans, Rob Havenstein, Joe Noteboom, Anchrum, Allen and Brewer. They could probably get away with stashing Coleman Shelton — unless he overtakes Allen in the preseason, because they’ll both get plenty of reps. If they need mathematical help elsewhere (because they’ll probably keep more linebackers and perhaps even more receivers than last season), they could find a spot here.

David Long Jr.

I don’t think Long is “falling” so much as he drew the short straw on Saturday, with the Rams sticking in their vanilla “base sub package” (can a nickel package featuring a star of Jalen Ramsey’s caliber really be categorized as simple?). That meant Ramsey mostly stayed inside, and Dallas threw CeeDee Lamb and Michael Gallup Long’s way often. There were some issues on a short field, and Long did give up at least two catches (one for a touchdown; a second touchdown may not have been on him based on how far back Gallup was behind the coverage, which indicates something else happened earlier in the play progression).

No, it’s more so that Long merits watching through these last few practices (he’s unlikely to get many, if any, preseason minutes) to see how he rebounds. Similarly to Rapp, when the scheme helps the player and vice versa, good things happen. It’s unlikely that Long will draw such a hand week in and week out when the Rams go live in September — simply because they have the option of moving Ramsey around, and placing Terrell Burgess into the nickel (which they weren’t going to do on a live broadcast against the Cowboys). There’s probably a reason Terrell Burgess has gotten so many reps there on the second team … but that’s just my opinion.